A Slight Smile Is Very Charming on a Stone Face novel · Chapter 22 of 24
Chapter 22: The Regional Office
Bressler did what frightened men do, which is smile harder.
"Ma'am, I think there's been a misunderstanding," he said.
The regional director did not look at him.
"There is a second folder," she said, and drew it from under the first.
"It was in your bottom desk drawer, Gordon. Your assistant found it Wednesday."
She opened it on the white tablecloth and turned it so the cameras could see.
Inside were tabs, each with an adjuster's name, and each tab held a stack of paper.
"Complaints," she said, "collected against adjusters you disliked."
"Some are real. Many are written in your own handwriting, and some are signed with names of people who never filed anything."
A murmur went through the room, low and angry.
"This tab," the director said, and held it up, "belongs to Joan Kowal."
Joan, beside the table, did not move.
"It goes back nineteen years. A note for every time she disagreed with you in a meeting. A note for every time she was right."
Joan took off her red glasses.
"Nineteen years," she said, in a very quiet voice. "I always thought it was just me being difficult."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of A Slight Smile Is Very Charming on a Stone Face are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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